AdGuard Home
Self-hosted, network-wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for all devices.
Used for network-wide ad blocking at the DNS layer across all devices123, including on phones away from home via Android Private DNS or a VPS instance.456The main caveats are that DNS-level blocking is coarser than per-app blocking7, and that a single home DNS instance can be a single point of failure.8
Why people recommend it
Network-wide blocking · 3
Blocks ads at the DNS layer for every device on the network.
“AdGuard Home: DNS/Ad blocking for all my devices”
“i run adguard home (pihole, etc works too) for network-wide adblocking at the dns layer.”
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“I employ DNS blocking (through my own adguard home server) on my whole network”
Works off-network · 3
Commenters keep filtering on mobile outside the house without a constant VPN.
“all DNS requests even on mobile hit my AdGuardHome”
“the redundancy at home has saved my skin during several Proxmox reboots.”
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“I employ DNS blocking (through my own adguard home server) on my whole network”
Pairs with homelab · 3
Commenters run it alongside Unbound, Tailscale, Proxmox and similar tools.
“I employ DNS blocking (through my own adguard home server) on my whole network”
“I run openwrt, adguard, unbound, proxmox, jellyfin, samba, qbittorrent and syncthing”
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“For DNS redirects I use Adguard on the tailnet”
Run your own · 1
Recommended as a way to run your own DNS infrastructure.
“take a look at adguard home, dnsmask or unbound. the best is to run your own infra”
Caveats and dissent
Coarse blocking · 1
DNS blocking cannot make per-app exceptions the way a firewall like NetGuard can.
“With DNS blocking I wouldn't be able to do that.”
Single point failure · 1
One commenter runs several instances because a single home DNS server took the network down during reboots.
“the redundancy at home has saved my skin during several Proxmox reboots.”
Site breakage · 1
One commenter uses a conservative blocklist so family members don't find sites broken.
“all DNS requests even on mobile hit my AdGuardHome”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Ask HN: What self-hosted apps do you use daily? 1 mention
- “It works better in the app” 1 mention
- Choosing a Public DNS Resolver 1 mention
- Little Snitch comes to Linux, but the core logic is closed source 1 mention
- I run three AdGuard Home instances (two local, one on a VPS) 1 mention
- TikTok is tracking you, even if you don't use the app 1 mention
Data: adguard-home.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 10
“AdGuard Home: DNS/Ad blocking for all my devices”
“Before I got the FW, I used Tailscale and AdGuard Home.”
“take a look at adguard home, dnsmask or unbound. the best is to run your own infra”
“With DNS blocking I wouldn't be able to do that.”
“the redundancy at home has saved my skin during several Proxmox reboots.”
“all DNS requests even on mobile hit my AdGuardHome”
“i run adguard home (pihole, etc works too) for network-wide adblocking at the dns layer.”
“I employ DNS blocking (through my own adguard home server) on my whole network”
“For DNS redirects I use Adguard on the tailnet”
“I run openwrt, adguard, unbound, proxmox, jellyfin, samba, qbittorrent and syncthing”